Unseeded Duke mounted a huge 14-12 upset of 4-seed Richmond in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Saturday evening and will advance to the national quarterfinals for the third time in the last four seasons.
The Blue Devils faced great adversity throughout the contest as they had not only overcome a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter, but they faced a crowd of 6,805 on the road, an NCAA attendance record for the first round.
“Throw around the word ‘character’ a lot. In terms of coaching, sometimes it gets overused. But that was as high-character a win as I’ve ever seen. Ever,” Duke head coach John Danowski said to his team after the game. “Now we’ve got another week together, another week to work. So proud of everybody in this room.”
Duke looked strong early, carrying a 6-4 lead into half after Tomas Delgado potted a shot in the final seconds of the frame.
Liam Kershis then gave the Blue Devils their largest lead of the contest out of the break to make it 7-4.
Things then started to unravel for the visitors as Richmond responded with three straight goals in a span of just 4:37 to tie the game, 7-7, with 6:36 left in the third quarter.
Action then began to pick up on both ends as Kershis put Duke back in front 8-7 with his third goal of the evening. Then, Richmond’s Daniel Picard made a highlight reel play to bring the score level at 8-8.
The Blue Devils then scored another goal just a few minutes later, but the Spiders once again responded. This time, 51 seconds later, to make it 9-9.
Richmond capped the thrilling third frame with a last-second goal to bring a 10-9 lead into the final quarter, marking the Spiders’ first lead of the contest since it was 2-1.
Momentum seemed to have completely shifted in the host’s favor, as Richmond came out of the break white-hot, scoring twice in the first four minutes of the fourth to take a 12-9 lead.
Duke then settled back into the game after Benn Johnston extended his goal streak to 18 games to cut the deficit to two midway through the fourth quarter.
Jack Pappendick then brought the Blue Devils within one just over a minute later, and just 48 seconds later, Johnston netted his second of the game to tie the contest at 12, setting up a thrilling final six minutes of regulation.
Then, with 1:37 left in the game, Kyle Colsey gave Duke the lead for good, sending shockwaves across the college lacrosse world.
“I thought they [Duke] played a great game,” Richmond head coach Dan Chemotti said. “I wish them all the best moving forward.”
The win marked multiple milestones in Danowski’s coaching career, including 275 victories at Duke and 40 NCAA Tournament wins.
The Blue Devils will return to action in the quarterfinals on Sunday, May 17. They will take on the winner of the No. 3 seed Virginia’s contest against Georgetown.
This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: duke lacrosse upsets 3-seed richmond-advances to quarterfinals